The most prevailing feature of Grimm Island is its massive woodland, named by its inhabitants as the Dark Forest. For generations, the islanders have utilized the woodland's boundless resources to build and expand society. Houses were built from the trees, medicines were formed from the herbs, food was harvested from the naturally grown fruits and woodland critters, and freshwater was obtained from the Aesop River that divided the island's biomes and crossed through the forest. Anyone who had been born and raised on the island would quickly tell you that the Dark Forest serves as both a refuge and as a weapon and all who understood this would prosper indefinitely. In terms of the Fairy Games, whoever knew the forest inside out would have the highest chance of survival. For someone who knew next to nothing, however, the forest was the absolute one place to avoid. Jasmine, unfortunately, fell in the latter.

The mist had consumed everyone and, according to Jasmine's hypothesis, had teleported them all around the island. In her case, she had awoken sprawled out on an open field surrounded by a sea of large oak trees. After wandering around for a while, making sure she was alone, Jasmine concluded that she was at or near the center of the island's forest, meaning that departure would take some time.

"That slimy bastard of a host," Jasmine muttered under her breath, "Did he decide this arbitrarily or is he just a massive asshole?"

Her displeasure came from the fact that, for most of her life, Jasmine had lived within the confines of a ship. She didn't have the title of Captain for no reason, but precisely because of this, she had no experience with wildlife aside from what she overheard during her ventures. Unsure of what to do, Jasmine decided the most important thing to take care of while she had time was to go over her game plan. She made sure once again that she was alone and then sat back on the open field.

Her first obstacle was the forest. Had she been blessed with better luck, she would've been able to traverse the forest, gathering food and water and utilizing the darkness as camouflage to her advantage. Better yet, had she been spawned anywhere else, she would've had an easier time deciding what to do next. This was not the case, however, and dwelling anymore on the subject would do her no good. When I win, Jasmine thought, I'll make sure to have that douchebag properly apologize to me. The amount of shit I had to go through in the past hour because of him is utterly ridiculous. So how would she overcome this first obstacle? Jasmine looked to the sky for an answer and noticed the lack of clouds. The stars were well-visible from where she was, perfect for quick navigation.

Little girl, little girl, don't you cry,

Smile for me, won't you try?

Here's a ladle of warm pea stew,

Made with love, just for you.

And when you need another cradle,

Look to the north for Big Dipper's Ladle.

Although he hated this lullaby, Jasmine now knew where to go with Polaris as her guide. Worst-case scenario, she would end up near the island's shore and have nothing to work with. In that case, she'd have to turn around and head south towards what she hoped would be the island's city. There, she would encounter her next obstacle: communication. She was unaware of what language the islanders spoke and didn't know what she'd do if she couldn't speak with them. This was an issue since she had brought a small fortune of coins meant for trade with the local merchants. If she could purchase enough food for the day and find a local inn, she could wait out the competition. There was no need to waste her energy on small fry, she thought. All she needed to do was wait for the strongest warriors to tire themselves, taking them down when the time came. But this required her to talk to the islanders for information. If she couldn't, a chunk of her plan would be impossible to realize.

"I mean, money is the universal language, right? I suppose throwing some coins their way and blessing them with my presence should be enough to let me do what I want."

She decided to place her worry on the back burner. That bridge would be crossed sooner or later so she'd deal with it once it was present. Now, her attention was brought to the competition, who to deal with quickly and who to avoid. But before she could continue thinking, her stomach began grumbling.

The crashing waves of the Aesop River gave a sense of calmness to Jasmine as she sat by the shore, chewing on wild berries she found from a nearby bush. So far, the only other source of life she had encountered was the chirpings of mating crickets and the occasional weary does. Gulping down the last of the berries, which had left a smear of violet juice around her mouth and fingers, she scooted closer to the raging waters and washed herself up while also tending to her parched throat. It was a foreign idea to drink directly from the source; then again, natural freshwater was foreign to her in general. She was more accustomed to the saltiness of the sea, where she had grown up, but it wasn't as if she was complaining right now. Once she felt satisfied, she scooted back and rested next to a tree stump.

She was now ready to analyze the roster.

"I really shouldn't worry myself over the small fry. Let's see... that white-haired boy lacked in any noticeable muscle power. One quick slash to the throat would be enough. Such a shame, too, since he was so cool. Oh well. Then, we have that furry... thing. What the hell even was that? Either way, it was sound asleep so perhaps we have nothing to worry about. The same can probably be said for the weird praying child. Those twins possess firearms but it isn't as if they're a threat. They're children, after all. Well, now that I say that, there are quite a lot of children in this game, huh? I guess it's best we write them off after all. That leaves us with the big bad men. That duke of whatever it's called looked rich enough. Perhaps all that time in the king's castle was used for serving tea and sticking thumbs up his ass. If that's the case, he would insist on a fair fight. Easy win for me, then. Then, there's the archer. I know nothing of him but archery is no match for firearms. If I take out those twins first, then that issue will resolve itself. That leaves us with the wolfman... well, I'll let that girl deal with him first before I kill her. Better not to engage the mentally sick."

As Jasmine shifted her sitting posture, she felt something poking her leg. Taking a quick peek, it occurred to her that she had forgotten a very clear factor when it came to combat. Poking her was a polished flintlock pistol with a loading stick and bag of old gun ammo tied to her belt. Now, for general combat, this would be of no use to her. Her saber would be better in most fights. Flintlock pistols suffered greatly from poor accuracy and painfully slow reload time. But, in the off-chance that a flintlock pistol was used at point-blank range, its raw strength would be capable of piercing through metallic armor, let alone a human skull. This poses the question of how someone would even get close enough for a perfect shot. Jasmine sneered. That was a secret she'd keep to herself.

"That Story Teller bastard didn't need to bring up Tales when he did. But it's not like anyone knows what I'm capable of anyway. This game will be a cinch."

She stood up, a large and mischievous grin finding itself onto her face.

"I'm Captain Hook, after all. Victory will be mine."